ARCH 2012 - Architectural Design Studio II

The second year studio sequence focuses upon the conventions of architecture in the development of problem-solving skills for design. The understanding of architectural convention is emphasized as the basis for design invention and as the foundation of ethical action. Design exercises stress analysis as well as synthesis of context, function, form, space, and construction while emphasizing principles drawn from the architectural history and construction technology courses. The mastery of conventions of representation is emphasized as well in order to enhance students abilities in the communication of both technical and expressive intentions.

Learning ObjectivesArch 2011 focuses on fundamental compositional and conceptual strategies in architecture and emphasizes certain methods by which architecture may be analyzed, diagrammed, conceptualized, transformed, and represented. Relevant design issues include context, function, space, geometry, structure, enclosure, and construction. Principles identified through analytical exercises provide the conceptual and compositional frameworks for design projects which are explored and thoroughly represented through drawings and models. The semester-long course is divided into three projects of five week duration.

Topics

Development of a critical understanding of the cultural and environmental factors that inform the design process and contribute to the formal development of architectural conventions.

Expanding representational skills, including electronic and multi-media, through exercises that establish pre-design parameters and visually communicate site and programmatic constraints.

Introduction to issues of building in the public realm: the analysis of public versus private space through exercises engaging both building and site.

Application of knowledge gained through collateral courses in architectural history and construction technology.

Course RequirementsEach design assignment includes explicit due dates and minimum requirements which must be met. Project presentation requirements include explanatory descriptions of the project (analytical and conceptual diagrams, axonometrics, models, site models, written texts) technical descriptions (site plan, plans, sections, elevations, construction details), and experiential representations (perspectives; color, shade-and- shadow, material studies). In addition, student work is evaluated in terms of design process and methodology (which must be explicitly recorded) and in terms of the quality of execution of the work. At the end of each design project, students make public, oral presentations of their design work and engage in class wide discussion of the design approaches manifested in the work. Participation in these "juries" is required. At the end of each academic term, the design instructors formally review the compiled work of each student for that term for purposes of grading. Students are responsible for preserving their work (drawings, models, etc.) and organizing it in a design portfolio for purposes of this review. Students are given a written evaluation of their work both at mid-term and term-end. Attendance to all design studio sessions and seminars is required. Unexcused absences from more than three classes may result in a deduction in the course grade.